DEA, task force arrest 23 in drug-distribution ring

Published 1:03 pm, Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Twenty-three people have been arrested in connection with what police said is a substantial methamphetamine importation and distribution organization operating in the Midland-Odessa area.

Federal agents, along with local and state law enforcement agencies, broke up the organization after a six-month investigation that resulted in the seizure of approximately 13 pounds of liquid and crystal methamphetamine -- an amount that can supply approximately 12,000 to 15,000 users, according to U.S. Attorney Richard Durbin.

“This was a lot of methamphetamine. Six kilos of meth is particularly a lot when it’s directed at a community the size of Odessa,” Durbin said Tuesday.

Law enforcement agents announced Tuesday that eight of the 23 suspects were arrested within the past two days and that several more suspects still are at-large.

Two brothers were among those arrested. Moises “Moi” Ramirez, 42, and Jose “Kiki” Ramirez, 43, were the alleged leaders of the group and were said to be involved “not only in the distribution of crystal methamphetamine here in the Permian Basin, but they were a center point for a criminal organization that worked from Mexico, through the Permian Basin, and had ties to Northern California and Portland, Oregon,” said Will Glaspy, special agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Federal authorities in Midland were advised last summer by DEA agents in Portland that one of the brothers was involved in the group’s distribution end in Portland, Glaspy said. Other family members were involved in the drug ring and also were arrested: the Ramirezes’ sister, Janet Perez of Odessa; nephew, Oscar Escudero, also of Odessa; and parents, Jose and Mercedes Ramirez of El Paso.

During a traffic stop on Sept. 21, Ector County sheriff’s deputies seized approximately 3.5 pounds of meth from Henry Andrade Sr. and Monica Lopez as they were transporting the drugs into Odessa, according to a press release from the U.S Attorney’s Office. DEA agents and local authorities executed four search warrants in Odessa in November and seized 11 pounds of meth allegedly belonging to the organization, according to the press release.

When the warrants were executed, authorities discovered two residences in west Odessa were laboratories where the organization was making crystal methamphetamine from a liquid base created and imported from Mexico, authorities said.

The extent of the arrests provided evidence to law enforcement of the Permian Basin’s significance along a prominent drug-distribution route, from Mexican cartels to American users, authorities said.

“One of the unique things about this is that it shows that the Permian Basin is not just a users’ market,” Glaspy said. “This is a strategic location; it’s a transportation hub. So we’ve got methamphetamine that’s being smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico, coming here and being processed into crystal meth, and shipped out to other distribution points throughout the U.S., as well as feeding the local market. That’s something we haven’t seen before.”

The task force included DEA agents in Midland, El Paso and Oregon, along with the Midland Police Department, Midland and Ector county sheriff's offices, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney V. LaTawn Warsaw is prosecuting the case on behalf of the federal government, according to the press release.

“None of us have the resources to do this alone,” said Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson. “With this cooperation between our agencies we’ve made a big dent in it, and that’s the way it’s got to be. We’ve got to cooperate and we’ve got to have everybody working together to get this done.”

Fifteen of those already in custody are being held without bond. The remaining eight will have their initial appearances before the court today.

All 23 could face between 10 years and life in federal prison upon conviction.